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What Putin Is Costing Russia

Former finance minister Alexi Kudrin projects up to $160 billion in capital will flee this year.

By

Ilan Berman

April 20, 2014 5:24 p.m. ET

Just how much is Vladimir Putin's Ukrainian adventure actually costing Russia? Quite a lot, it turns out.

New statistics from the Central Bank of Russia indicate that almost $51 billion in capital exited the country in the first quarter of 2014. The exodus, says financial website Quartz.com, is largely the result of investor jitters over Russia's intervention in Ukraine and subsequent annexation of Crimea.